Who Killed Lady Lark?
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and twenty-three:  4/4  The time has come for the murderer to be revealed and the game to end.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 15th cycle. Now cycle 16!_

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**"Who Killed Lady Lark?"  
****Kurt, Rachel, Mercedes, Brittany, Tina, Artie  
Part 4/4 - Sequel to "The Case of Lady Lark" & "Lady Lark Must Die"  
Characters:  
**_Rachel as Cassandra "Lady Lark" Larkin & Tessa Larkin_  
_Kurt as Max Magnus_  
_Mercedes as Delia Vale_  
_Tina as Andy Sykes_  
_Brittany as Stella Franks_  
_and_  
_Artie as Detective Jim Winslow _

The longer the suspects remained confined under suspicion, the more it seemed a few were about to crack, reveal something. Whether this something included a confession remained to be seen. But this would only become more evident with the next development, unexpected as it was that, for a split second it broke reality… No one knew of the second victim, only her player and the game master.

Tessa Larkin had been so focused on spying the people around, trying to see if one of them would reveal his or herself as her sister's killer, that she would hardly notice when Stella lay her head on her shoulder. But Tessa had been observing the detective, and after a time she wondered aloud…

"What if it's him?" The others looked to Tessa; Stella didn't.

"You should be careful who you accuse, Miss Larkin. I am with the police, I'm here to…"

"No, but you are here… of all the nights… on the one where my sister is murdered?" She was working herself up once again. "Don't you find that suspicious?" She stood… and there was a thud. It was revealed Tessa had been holding up Stella, supporting her so that she hadn't fallen when life had left her. There were screams, followed by hesitation, staring at the open-eyed body… Had Stella fallen? Had Brittany?

When Max Magnus moved to examine his assistant, it became clear, and it revealed… Stella Franks was dead. "Struck again!" he declared to all. At once, voiced rising, fingers pointed. Detective Winslow watched; he watched and he found, much to some regret…

"Quiet!" he called loudly, cutting through the sound until silence fell. "Everyone step back, spread out, now," he told them. All doubt was put aside for that time, and they did as they were told. They looked to one another, then the detective. He wheeled on up, past each of them and back, until he stopped and looked up into the eyes of the one his gut told him was responsible.

Silence hung in the air as all eyes looked as well, to Andy Sykes, manager of this great big travelling show, and they all wondered in their minds… Was it really her? This person they trusted, a murderer?

"Andy?" Tessa sounded as though she'd been punched in the stomach, begging for it not to be true. Andy's face became set, locked up… wouldn't speak, couldn't lie, tired of it.

"You poisoned Cassandra Larkin, and Stella Franks; you murdered them," the detective accused – no response. "And I'm starting to think I know why," he went on. "Miss Vale, are you feeling alright?" he looked to her.

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered, though the suggestion he was making… It made her wonder.

"I see it now," the detective looked back to his suspect. "It's all about her," he looked to Tessa Larkin.

"Me? No, I…" she sputtered.

"I'm not accusing you, Miss Larkin. But, unwittingly, you are involved." He looked back to Andy. "Tessa was going to be your new star, wasn't she? And not only would getting rid of the old star solve your problems, it would give you a story to push your new girl, her tragedy, and you and your act all in the spotlight."

"Yes, because it's so easy for you, isn't it?" Andy finally broke silence. "Point that finger at me, but you don't know anything."

"You killed two innocent girls," the detective reminded, now that she'd declared herself as such. "There is no reason." Andy looked to Tessa, almost hopeful despite it all, as though she wanted to find validation. All she got was fear, anger, and disgust.

"Maybe not," Andy blinked, let down and broken hearted.

It was at this time that Kurt pulled out a buzzer from his pocket and rang it: the game was done. There was a beat as everyone came out of their characters, but the first to speak was the dead girl on the seats.

"I bumped my head," Brittany spoke, rubbing at the spot.

"Why didn't you say?" Tina asked.

"I was dead," Brittany pointed out… of course. "Figured he'd figure it out if she was the one," She indicated Artie and Tina, who chuckled, looking back at each other.

"This was fun," Mercedes told Kurt. "We can even try and get more of the others to come."

"Yeah," he looked around, excited at his success and the potential with it. "There's this other one, it's in space…"

THE END

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[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]


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